1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a blade.
2. Description of Related Art
The manufacture of blades involves a sequence of manufacturing processes each of which is used to achieve a certain characteristic of the blade. In the manufacture of blades, it is common practice to employ a single strip of steel blade stock material from which a plurality of blades are produced. The strip of blade material may be provided in a coil form. The strip of blade stock is delivered to a punch press were a plurality of openings are stamped into the strip to define attach points employed to retain the blade in a cartridge or onto a knife/razor handle, to partially shape the blade and remove excess material and also to optionally stamp a brand name, logo or other indication thereon. The strip is then scored to form a plurality of axially spaced score lines, wherein each score line corresponds to a side edge of a respective blade and defines a breaking line for later snapping or cutting the scored strip into a plurality of blades. The strip of blade stock is then generally fed through a heat treating oven to harden and temper the strip material. The heat treated strip is conventionally ground, honed and/or stropped to form the facets defining a straight cutting edge along one side of the strip. The strip is subsequently snapped along the length of the strip at each score line to break the strip along the score lines to produce a plurality of blades.